hopeless causes
by ohwhatsherface
Summary: SasuSaku, NaruKarin. A love triangle of sorts forms in Konoha. Karin is flustered, Sasuke is at fault and Sakura is not subtle.


**hopeless causes  
**by: ohwhatsherface

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Sakura was not happy when Sasuke came back to Konoha with another woman. Not happy _at all_.

It wasn't because of who she was.

No.

Sakura adored Karin. The two got along _amazingly_! She was just like Naruto, in a sense, with all the loud-mouthed and bubbly traits. The two girls got their hair done together and did their nails with each other during little sleepovers. In fact, Sakura was the one who offered to house Karin until the Sound kunoichi could manage to get up on her feet in the new village, much to the surprise of Sasuke and many others.

Karin was well on her way of becoming Sakura's new Best Friend.

Sakura just had one problem with her, though.

(Well no. The problem she had was more so with _Sasuke_ – since really, it _was_ his fault…)

"You. Traitor," Sakura hissed to him, poking him harshly on his bare chest while Inner Sakura greedily took in the sight and fainted from blood loss.

Sasuke merely raised an eyebrow at the particular word. Sakura hadn't seemed so angry when he finally did return.

(Sure, it wasn't so much a return as it was a capture… One couldn't quite escape Konoha so quietly when one kills three of said village's most precious elders.)

"Traitor?" Sasuke repeated with a bit surprise. "Hn…"

Sakura grunted in annoyance, sensing he was about to begin Angst Fest 2008 and mentally go over his lifetime's worth of Epic Woe. "Not like _that_." She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not talking about the whole leaving-me-on-a-bench-thing…"

Sasuke rolled her eyes at her subtlety.

"It's just… you brought Karin with you, you total _ass_!"

"I thought you liked Karin," Sasuke said, almost confused. "You two are… inseparable."

She made a disgruntled face but nodded. He was right. She and Karin were always hanging out, whether they were training, at the spa or just shopping – heck, they were roommates! The only time the two of them weren't together was…

Well, when Karin was with _Naruto_.

"I _do_ like her," Sakura huffed. "It's just…" She screeched, much to Sasuke's dismay, and then poked him again. "Sasuke, I have been shipping the NaruHina for _years_ now and have been totally working with Hinata for her to get her courage up and _now_, when she just might have a chance, you bring your pretty little redhead along to ruin my hard work!"

"…the _NaruHina_?"

Sakura punched his arm. "Focus, Sasuke!"

He scowled at the offending hand that seemed to enjoy inflicting injuries on him. "I don't get what you're complaining about, Sakura."

"Ugh, you are so _dense_!" she complained, pointing to the nearby ramen stand where Naruto was seated beside Karin.

They were standing across, leaning on the fence – Sakura apparently had a training date with Karin and was patiently waiting – and observing. From where they stood, they could see Naruto urging Karin to eat whatever his flavour of the week currently was and Karin blushing as he tried to feed her.

"They seem to… like each other," Sasuke commented reluctantly as pink tinted his cheeks. He couldn't believe he said such a thing.

His blush darkened when Sakura gawked at him.

"So…" Sasuke cleared his throat, glaring at nothing in particular as he tried to ignore Sakura's blatant staring, "I think you should stay out of Naruto's Love Life and… let him make his own decisions for himself."

Sakura remained silent and leaned into the wooden fence, pouting.

"Why are you so intent on finding him a girl, anyway?" Sasuke asked.

"Because—because—because…" She immediately stiffened at the question, and with hardened eyes, Sakura turned away. She began pacing along the road as she shouted her tirade. "Sasuke…" She laughed half-heartedly and shook her head, "Sasuke, I have _no_ love life. I've tried, believe me, I have _tried_ to work on one – to work on one that… _worked_. I mean, Shikamaru, Kiba, Neji, Lee, _Sai_!" Sakura shook her fists to the air. "But no. They _never_ work!"

Sasuke remained quiet.

"So I have Naruto," she continued, looking up at him with hope in her green eyes. "I have Naruto! He's my best friend. I have him to live my dreams _for_ me! And…"

As soon as they softened, her eyes hardened once again and she hit him once more.

"And _you_ crushed my dreams, Sasuke!"

They simply leaned against the wall together in silence, Sasuke seeming oddly contemplative and Sakura chewing on her lower lip. She slowly let her body slide down against the wood and he followed suit a moment after.

"…That wasn't very subtle, was it?"

He shook his head. "No."

"I'm not bitter," she was quick to defend, "…or well, okay, maybe I am, but only a little, I swear! It's just… I think," Sakura sighed and shrugged. "I think I'm lonely – and please, Sasuke, don't give me that 'Sakura, you don't know what loneliness is' stuff, okay?" Sasuke glared at her. "It's just… This is a different lonely from your lonely. I get that you have your lonely but I have mine, too!" Sakura muttered, hitting her head against the wood. "I have no one and I'm lonely…"

She sniffled to herself.

"…And I'm not subtle, either."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and pushed himself up from the dirt road. He straightened his pants and smoothed down the crinkles on his open white shirt. Glancing back to the ground, Sasuke couldn't help but frown at Sakura's miserable face. With a quiet sigh, he stuck out a hand to help her up.

Looking up at him confusedly, she reluctantly took his hand.

"Want some ramen?" he asked under his breath.

A small smile pulled at her lips when she noticed his small blush.

"Sure."

And when they joined the pair already at Ichiraku and she saw Karin's adoring glance and Naruto's look of longing after teasingly asking if they were on a date, Sakura decided to let go of Naruto and let him live his own Love Life.

It was a glance at Sasuke that inspired her to work on her own.

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**fin.**

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Hey. I'm proud of this. NARUKARIN! NARUKARIN! NARUKARIN! :D  
(Out of curiousity, how many of you dubbed me a traitor and thought I made a SakuSasuKarin?)

**EDIT: **To be honest, I've never been much a NaruHina fan. I just wrote them to make a name for myself because ha, I thought SasuSaku was too intimidating.


End file.
